SA KAEO, Thailand — Three Thai nationals who were held captive in Cambodia by a Chinese-operated fake girlfriend call center scam have been intercepted by Thai border patrol after being abandoned by their captors during a foreign police crackdown. The escapees were apprehended while illegally crossing the border back into Thailand.

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The incident occurred on June 5 when border rangers from the 1201st Ranger Company, acting on orders from Colonel Bancha Charnchalad of the Burapha Task Force and Colonel Chainarong Kasi of the Aranyaprathet Task Force, intensified patrols between checkpoints A.13 and A.14 in Ban Dong Ngo, Sa Kaeo Province. Officers observed a group of individuals crawling under barbed-wire fencing and navigating a deep canal to enter Thai territory. The group, consisting of two Thai men and one woman, was immediately detained for questioning as they possessed no passports or legal border crossing documents.

During the subsequent investigation, the three escapees revealed they were victims of a transnational call center fraud operation. The trio reported that they had secured employment in January through a Facebook page named Jobs In Poipet, which offered positions as chat support staff for a relationship-oriented platform. Upon arriving, the victims were coerced into participating in investment scams that promised high-yield returns to targets. Their journey to the compound involved traveling to the Aranyaprathet bus station, being transported to a border crossing, and being guided on foot by a Cambodian national to a work building in Poipet, Banteay Meanchey Province, where a Chinese investor awaited them.

Thai victims of a "fake girlfriend" call centre scam were held captive and forgotten inside rented rooms in Cambodia for more than half a month by a Chinese group that were escaping a major Cambodian police crackdown.

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— Bangkok Post (@BangkokPostNews) June 5, 2026

The situation deteriorated significantly in late May when Cambodian authorities launched a widespread crackdown on foreign workers involved in illicit online operations. The female victim reported that she and other staff members were confined to a rented room in Poipet from May 20 to June 3 as their Chinese employers moved them into hiding to evade law enforcement. On the evening of June 4, Cambodian police were alerted to the location of the rented room and began searching the premises. Realizing the authorities were closing in, the Chinese operators fled the scene, deliberately abandoning the trapped workers inside.

Left with no other options, the abandoned workers sought directions from local Cambodians and embarked on a perilous journey back to Thailand on foot. They navigated through deep canals and crawled beneath barbed-wire border fences before being apprehended by the Thai military rangers. The escapees indicated profound relief at surviving the ordeal and returning to Thai soil.

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Following the interception, the military rangers confirmed that none of the three individuals had outstanding arrest warrants or were carrying identification cards. Consequently, they were transferred to the investigating officers at Khlong Luek Police Station for standard legal processing regarding their illegal border crossing. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies have expanded their investigation, aiming to dismantle the transnational smuggling and scam syndicate and bring the operators to justice.

-Thailand News (TN)